Friday, January 8, 2016

Sephora + Pantone Color of the Year Palette

I was not going to get this palette, but for some reason it kept calling to me. You know how sometimes you tell yourself you don't need something, and then it just stays in the back of your mind and keeps bugging you? That's what happened with this, and I finally caved and bought it after Christmas!

There are so many colors here - 24 for $39. I was worried it might be like the Jem palette quality-wise, but I actually ended up liking this one better. It is smaller in person than you would expect. The case is plastic and has a cool watercolor painting design on the front. It does include the 2 colors of the year, Rose Quartz and Serenity.

You get a pretty decent sized mirror, and a plastic insert that has the color numbers. The only place that has the actual NAMES of the colors is the back of the box that the whole thing comes in, which isn't the most convenient. I feel like I have to hold onto that box now if I want the actual color names.

The colors themselves are mostly pastel - some pretty unique ones - and they're all very pretty shades. I noticed a lot of mattes right off the bat too, which again worried me because in my opinion, Sephora doesn't do matte shadows very well!

I figured it would be easiest to swatch them by column for you, so that I could show 4 shades at a time and not make this an incredibly long post :)

Bright White - Matte white

Antique White - Looks like a cream, but swatches as a shimmery white

Oyster Mushroom - Sparkly silver

Fruit Dove - Matte hot pink

I LOVED the Fruit Dove color - I can honestly say I don't think I have another shade quite like it, aside from the reddish pink in the Mi Vida Loca Remix palette from Kat Von D, which is far more red than this. The others in this column swatched decently, though the Bright White could be a little more pigmented.

Rose Quartz - Matte pale baby pink

Mushroom - Metallic champagne

Coral Haze - Matte pastel coral

Orchid Haze - Matte pastel orchid

I like this column a lot, I think all the colors look really nice together. I was surprised that the mattes aren't at all chalky - they are buildable and blend well, they just need a little work if you're going to pack them on.

Honeydew - Matte pastel mint green

Pelican - Metallic pale gray with a slight golden sheen

Pale Mauve - Pale pink with a satin finish

Cascade - Matte pastel turquoise

Another really nice column of colors here. Pelican is probably my favorite, it's such a unique shade. It's hard to describe, but it's a grayish color that has a gold sheen to it - so nice as an all over lid color, which is what I've been using it for! The matte shades here are nice as well - Cascade is super pigmented.

Cafe Creme - Shimmery pale peach

Chinois Green - Satiny grayish green - this one is very hard to work with.

Cafe au Lait - Shimmery light copper

Lantana - Matte coral

This column is the dud out of the palette for me. Cafe Creme is nice, but Chinois Green is a nightmare to try to work with. It's patchy and just does not apply or blend well. Definitely the worst out of the whole palette. Cafe au Lait is okay but not very pigmented, and then Lantana looks super vibrant in the pan but ends up swatching pretty patchy.

Mellow Yellow - Pale satiny yellow

Cedar Wood - Matte red toned brown

Boa - Shimmery olive green

Linden Green - Matte lime green

Mellow Yellow surprised me - I thought it was going to be a matte but it is indeed a satin finish. It swatches pretty nicely considering yellow is one of those colors that very rarely works well when it comes to eyeshadow! Cedar Wood is a nice warm, deep crease color. I LOVE Boa - it has a bit of a gold sparkle to it when it hits the light. Linden Green is just an awesome shade all around - it's not too often you see a matte lime eyeshadow that actually swatches well.

Ash - Matte pale gray

Citadel - Shimmery grayish blue

Serenity - Matte cornflower blue

Marina - Matte bright blue with blue glitter

Ash is a really nice gray - I always love gray eyeshadow for smokey eyes because I feel like it works amazingly at blending out any harsh blacks. Citadel is a nice light gray-blue with a slight shimmer to it. Serenity is pretty but could be a bit more pigmented. I am really disappointed in Marina because it's SO pretty in the pan, but it just swatches terribly. It's not very pigmented and the beautiful blue sparkles that are in it don't translate at all.

As a whole, this palette is really nice. I like that the matte shades for the most part aren't chalky and actually blend well. A lot of Sephora matte shadows end up being really hard to work with and either have no pigmentation or won't blend well, so these were a pleasant surprise. The two duds in the palette for me were Chinois Green, which I will probably never touch because it's so hard to work with, and Marina, just because it looks like such a nice bright, glittery blue and it's very "blah" on the skin.

I hope this review was helpful for you guys! Remember to follow my blog for more :)